Ilbiz, Ethem

The Impact of the European Union Political Conditionality on Counter-terrorism Policy: A Case Study of Turkey

The aim of my study is to seek the answer of why and how has the EU influenced Turkish Governments to pass certain legislation in the area of counter-terrorism. The study will focus on legal counter-terrorism approach of Turkey against the terrorist organization Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) in the following periods: 1995-1999, 1999-2004 and 2004-2011. In order to limit the study and to trace the influence of the EU, legal rule adoption of Turkey will be observed under three sub-domains (a) human rights (b) minority rights and (c) adoption of counter-terrorism related acquis in Justice and Home Affairs.

The original contribution of this study lies in applying Europeanization models; ‘External Incentives Model’ and ‘Social Learning Model’ developed by the Schimmelfenning and Sedelmeier to legal counter-terrorism policy changes in Turkey. These theoretical models were developed for the Central and Eastern Europe Countries (CEEC) and to date many studies were launched in relation to the candidate states and for their policies such as ethnic minority rights, civil service reform, health care policy, immigration policy, social policy and environmental policy. In this study, both models will be implemented for the first time to the counter-terrorism policy of an EU candidate state.